The court early next year must decide whether to hear two high-profile appeals by Trump's administration. One involves the president's bid to end deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants known as "Dreamers" who were brought into the United States as children. The other involves his proposed limits on transgender people serving in the military.
Both policies were blocked by lower courts.
In an unusually aggressive strategy, Solicitor General Noel Francisco, a conservative lawyer who is Trump's top Supreme Court advocate, sought to bypass lower appeals courts by asking the justices to take up both cases early in the appellate process.
Of the two cases, the court may be more likely to hear the immigration dispute, according to Nicole Saharsky, a former Justice Department lawyer now in private practice. The transgender case "seems like more of a reach," Saharsky added.
Jonathan Adler, a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, said Trump's lawyers are in a delicate position.
"On the one hand, if they overplay their hand on a regular basis, they risk alienating the justices. On the other hand, there are some cases ... in which they have legitimate complaints. In a sense, they don't want to cry wolf, but there are wolves out there," Adler said.
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